VLADAS JAKUBĖNAS AND HIS CHORAL MUSIC

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2 VLADAS JAKUBĖNAS AND HIS CHORAL MUSIC by Arvydas Kazimieras Karaška In Lithuanian musical culture Vladas Jakubėnas ( ) has the reputation of being a personality of diverse cultural and social activities and unusual diligence, with a driving sense of duty and a remarkable degree of tolerance. He was a solid composer of moderately modern tendency and the most prominent Lithuanian writer on music of his day. He was also a pianist, orchestral leader, organist and conductor and an insightful and long-lived teacher, educator and consultant. He came up with and enthusiastically promoted ideas on how to spread music and create cultural relations both within Lithuanian society and with other countries. His far-sightedness started with the quality of his education. In 1920 he began studying piano at the Music School founded in Kaunas (the second city of Lithuania, and then the capital) by Juozas Naujalis 1 and Aušra Gymnasium in Kaunas; in 1923 he finished his studies at the gymnasium in Biržai, his home-town in northern Lithuanian, and, having decided to become a composer, went on to study ( ) in the Conservatoire in Riga, the capital of neighbouring Latvia, and then ( ) with Franz Schreker at the Berlin Academy of Music. His studies led him to develop his own distinctive compositional style, combining late Romanticism, Impressionism and Neo-Classicism. The Berlin period was crucial in Jakubėnas career. His compositions from this period the First Symphony, which was performed at the World s Fair Expo in Chicago in 1934, the Prelude and Triple Fugue for strings, and the String Quartet in A minor, Op. 4, 2 played at a 1932 concert in Berlin organised by the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) are among his finest works. In 1932, he returned to Lithuania and involved himself in a number of musical activities. He taught music theory, piano and composition at the Kaunas State Conservatoire, was a very productive 1 Naujalis ( ), composer, organist and choral conductor as well as pedagogue, studied in Warsaw and Regensburg before returning to Lithuania and establishing classical music on a firm footing there: he is known as the patriarch of Lithuanian music. His own music was written mostly for the genres in which he was himself active: there are some 150 choral pieces (including thirteen settings of the Mass) and organ works, but there are also a number of orchestral and instrumental compositions, and his songs became quite popular. 2 The String Quartet, Melody-Legend for violin and piano, Serenade for cello and piano and Prelude and Triple Fugue for strings feature on an earlier Toccata Classics recording of Jakubėnas instrumental music (tocc 0013) cf. p

3 music critic for the Lietuvos Aidas newspaper and other periodicals, 3 and appeared in concerts as a solo pianist and accompanist, often playing his own music. In inter-war Lithuania, Jakubėnas, together with Vytautas Bacevičius ( ) and Jeronimas Kačinskas ( ), belonged to a movement of progressive composers. In spite of some considerable differences in their aesthetic and artistic outlooks, they all shared the idea of modernising musical language. Jakubėnas was a moderate rather than a radical, and his musical thinking was in accord with the idea of a national character in music. He claimed that Lithuanian music should reflect Lithuania s nature and past, its people s character, and the features characteristic of Lithuanian folk art. 4 That is why his compositions from the 1930s the Second and Third Symphonies, the Rhapsody in E minor for orchestra, the Melody-Legend for violin and piano, and Rhapsody-Serenade (sometimes simply called Serenade) for cello and piano represent the more traditional style of late Romanticism with recognisable elements of the Lithuanian folksong heritage. Jakubėnas creative career was interrupted by the Soviet and Nazi occupations and his forced emigration from Lithuania in 1944: shortly after the completion of the piano score of his ballet The Fairy Belt of Vaiva and his last work written in Lithuania, My World for a cappella choir, he had to flee to Germany, where he spent five years in refugee camps. In 1949 he moved to the United States and made his home in Chicago. There he gave private music lessons, appeared in concerts alongside his fellow countrymen, played the organ at church services, wrote for the press, gave lectures, worked at various music schools and as a conductor, and took active part in the musical life of the Lithuanian émigré community. These day-to-day activities did not leave much time for composing. During his first ten years in America, Jakubėnas wrote the cantata Oh, Little Girl, the suite for symphony orchestra The Forest Festival, and several songs and instrumental miniatures. From 1959 choral music predominated: the cantatas De Profundis (1966), Resurrection Cantata (1970) and You Great Prophet (1971), and a number of choral songs and arrangements of Lithuanian evangelical hymns were added to his earlier choral compositions, such as arrangements of folksongs and original secular songs to texts by Vydūnas (the pen-name of the Prussian- Lithuanian writer, philosopher and mystic Wilhelm Storost ( ), the poet and writer Vincas Mykolaitis-Putinas ( ), the poets Bernardas Brazdžionis ( ) and Kazys Bradūnas ( ), both of whom left Lithuania in 1944 and emigrated to the USA after World War II, and 3 A two-volume anthology of his writings was published in Lithuanian in 1994: Vladas Jakubėnas: Straipsniai ir recenzijos ( Vladas Jakubėnas: Articles and Reviews ), ed. Loreta Venclauskienė, Lithuanian Music Academy it is almost 1,200 pages long. 4 Tautinės muzikos klausimais. Atsakymas V. Bacevičiui ( On the Issues of National Music. An Answer to V. Bacevičius ), Naujoji Romuva, 1938, No. 14, p

4 others. Jakubėnas thought that Lithuanian-American song-festivals were an effective way of stimulating a sense of national spiritual communion and unity and so promoted them, contributing as a composer, musicologist and organiser. He was the chairman of the repertoire commission for the Lithuanian song festivals in the USA and Canada in 1956, and in 1961 he became the chairman of the Lithuanian Cultural Fund Commission. For many years he gave assistance to the mixed choir of the evangelical Lutheran parish Tėviškė (a Lithuanian parish in Chicago). Jakubėnas died on 13 December 1976 in Chicago. His music made its comeback to Lithuania after the restoration of independence. His piano and chamber miniatures have been often performed since then, as well as his solo and choral songs, and most of them have found their way into print. His legacy of writings as a music critic and musicologist is likewise valued, especially by music historians he wrote more than 1,000 articles, a large portion of which were surveys of the musical life in various European countries, and analyses of trends in modern music. Unlike most of his contemporaries, Jakubėnas did not sing in a choir and did not lead or conduct a choir, except for occasional concerts, usually of his own music. Nonetheless, Lithuanian hymns were his daily bread. He wrote them down, harmonised and promoted them, describing them thus: Chants of [Lithuanian] evangelical Lutherans form a special phenomenon in the treasury of world music; their melodies differ from the usual Protestant chorales in their national distinctiveness. They are real church songs appropriate for mass chanting. The Tėviškė parish choir s campaign to record these chants is significant not only to Evangelicals and also perhaps not only to Lithuanians.. 5 Five of those chants, harmonised in and later published and recorded, have become relatively familiar in Lithuania since their publication in 1993 although their technical difficulties put them beyond the reach of amateur choirs and so has limited their adoption on a wide scale. The four recorded here reveal distinctive features. In Silence Thou art Celebrated A was harmonised in 1959, using the melody sung by the longlived organist and choir leader of Tėviškė parish, Martynas Lacytis ( ), although the origins of this hymn goes back to the post-reformation seventeenth century, the period of growth of Lutheran hymnology in Europe. Jakubėnas uses gradually growing dynamics and rising melodic lines to create an emotional apotheosis. In 1974 he added a piano accompaniment for the chant, which became popular in churches and concert halls. 5 Quoted in Valteris Banaitis, Kompozitorių Vladą Jakubėną prisimenant ( Remembering the Composer Vladas Jakubėnas ), Mokslas, menas kultūra (Saturday supplement of Draugas), 25 January 1992, No. 17 (4), p. 3. 4

5 Jesus, Thou art my Life 7, a melody, harmonised in 1961, which is typical of Lithuanian chants, supposedly originates from a Gregorian chorale. The text is assumed to have been translated by Stanislovas Rapolionis in the sixteenth century. There are several German chorales of similar title and text, but with different melodies. This harmonisation has flexible phrasing and a lively tempo and treats the voices homophonically. O, If I Only Could See Him 8 is a Lithuanian chant, harmonised in 1962, which is based on the text of an old German lament A Drop of Little Grapes, translated and Lithuanianised by Vydūnas. The middle part of Jakubėnas harmonisation is polyphonic. Solo soprano and bass voices in the background enrich the sense of space and timbre. Here I Am, O King of Glory 9, a Lithuanian chant included by Bishop Ansas Trakis ( ), the pastor of the Lithuanian Evangelical Lutheran Home Church in Chicago, in a hymn book he edited was harmonised in Jakubėnas develops its form and extent sophisticatedly, created diversity in motion, rhythm, tempo and dynamics. For most of his choral harmonisations Jakubėnas chose folk material: wedding songs of the Dzūkai (the people of south-eastern Lithuania), threshing songs, recruiting songs and the songs of the fishermen of Lithuania Minor in the south-east. Their distinctive melodies, vernacular features, mysterious-sounding old language forms (I Used to Walk in My Garden D ) spread an archaic Lithuanian spirit. Jakubėnas was deeply acquainted with the treasury of the Lithuanian folksongs and chants and understood them not only as a composer but also as a musicologist. As early as in the 1930s he outlined his thoughts on Lithuanian folksongs and sutartinės (the ancient Lithuanian tradition of polyphonic singing) in a four-page typescript kept at the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania. At the end of the text he writes: It would be good if the problems discussed here and the analysis of our folk melodies, as well as the comparative analysis of our folk music and folk music of the other countries, could become a subject of further studies. In America he transcribed recordings of the songs of several hundred elderly emigrants for the twovolume collection Lithuanian Songs in America published in 1958 and 1977 by the ethnologist Jonas Balys. The first people to take Jakubėnas vocal music to their hearts were refugees in Germany and later the émigrés who came to America after World War II. Jakubėnas in turn aimed to enrich the Lithuanian repertoire available to performers and to promote it, not least in open-air folk festivals. He would take a song, a ballad, a poem and expand to it to become a cantatina or cantata, creating his own versions (with the same title and text) of much simpler pieces. He expanded the range of performers, too, from 5

6 soloists, duets and smaller ensembles to choirs of even voices or mixed choirs a cappella or with piano, organ, even orchestral accompaniment. Most of them he wrote with specific performers in mind or to their commission. In a refugee camp in Bad Segeberg, in Germany, for example, he used a folksong and text to create the song Oh Little Girl for voice and piano, dedicating it to the tenor Petras Kovelis; in 1949 he created another version of this song for two voices, and in 1951 in Chicago expanded the song into a cantata Oh Little Girl for soprano, tenor (or baritone), mixed choir and piano and dedicated it to the ensemble Dainava and its leader Stepas Sodeika. Like his parents, Jakubėnas was a polyglot and yet he set only the texts of the following Romantic, Neo-Romantic or Symbolist Lithuanian poets in his songs and choruses: Kazys Bradūnas, Bernardas Brazdžionis, Kotryna Grigaitytė ( ), Olga Kaluginaitė-Jakubėnienė (Jakubėnas wife; ), Vincas Mykolaitis-Putinas, Juozas Mikuckis ( ), Adomas Šernas ( ), Petras Vaičiūnas ( ), and Vydūnas. Jakubėnas works, mostly choral, were published in Germany, Lithuania, the USA and Canada. The Vladas Jakubėnas Society, established under the initiative of Juozas Kreivėnas in Chicago in 1981, and its Lithuanian branch, active from 1991, contributes significantly to the promotion of this music and to musicological research into Jakubėnas music. Arvydas Kazimieras Karaška (born 1943) is a musicologist and writer. After studies at the Lithuanian Conservatoire in Vilnius (which included a composition course with Julius Juzeliūnas), he worked with a number of folk ensembles from 1976 to 2002; since 1996 he has been a member of the bell-ringing group Resurgent Bell. He has written, lectured and broadcast widely on Lithuanian music and instruments, contributing articles to The New Grove Dictionary of Music and The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. A number of European museums feature his reconstructions of Lithuanian folk instruments. He is also a poet, novelist and graphic designer. 6

7 BALTIC COMPOSERS AND TOCCATA CLASSICS by Martin Anderson Over the past two decades or so, music by some of the Jewish and other composers displaced, or worse, by the Nazis has begun to make its way into recordings and back into concerts, and names like Hans Gál, Erich Korngold, Franz Schreker, Ernst Toch, Viktor Ullmann and Erich Zeisl, sidelined for decades by a combination of Nazi suppression and the post-war modernist hegemony which was in part a reaction to it, are regaining some of the prominence they enjoyed before it; Korngold s Violin Concerto has even become a popular repertoire item, with good reason. It is less widely realised that musical life in the three Baltic states Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania suffered a disruption just as profound, one from which its musical life has not yet recovered: their exiled and suppressed composers have yet to establish international profiles. Their classical-musical cultures, often the product of a St Petersburg musical training inflected by local folk traditions, emerged only in the early years of the twentieth century, after long dominations by external powers. After a brief period of independence earlier in the century, all three countries found themselves pawns in the game being played out between Hitler and Stalin: they were made over to the Soviet side by the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact in 1939, swallowed by Nazi Germany when Operation Barbarossa was launched against the Soviet Union in 1941, and then re-occupied by Soviet forces in 1944 as the Germans retreated. German and Austrian Jewish refugees from Nazism had the option, had they wished, to return to democracies after the War. That option was not open to displaced Balts: it was 1990 before Lithuania became the first Soviet republic to declare its independence. Although the recording of approved composers had continued under the Communist occupation and independent recording soon resumed under freedom, in none of the three countries has it developed on any scale naturally enough, given their small consumer bases. From the beginning of Toccata Classics in 2005, the music of suppressed composers whether Jewish, Baltic or of any other origin has formed an important strand in the release programme, as it does, of course, with a handful of other labels, but the ground to be made up is nonetheless vast. Bit by bit we are reclaiming lost ground, but it will be a long time before the astonishing richness of Baltic musical traditions becomes clear to the wider world. This recording is intended as a step in that direction. Martin Anderson is the founder of Toccata Classics. 7

8 Vilnius City Municipal Choir Jauna Muzika is considered to be one of the most professional and vigorous vocal collectives in Lithuania. Every year it arranges over 60 concerts in Lithuania and abroad. The choir was founded in 1989 by the conductor and composer Remigijus Merkelys and its long-lived director Algimantas Gurevičius. From 1992 onwards the artistic director of the choir has been the conductor and composer Vaclovas Augustinas. In 1994 Jauna Muzika became the Vilnius City Municipal Choir and Salomėja Jonynaitė became its director. In the years Jauna Muzika participated in sixteen international choral contests and won fifteen of them. The choir received the highest award Grand Prix Europeo at the Grand Prix Winners Contest organised by the International Federation for Choral Music in Varna (Bulgaria) in In the twenty years since then Jauna Muzika s repertoire has grown into a precious and diverse collection. It sings a cappella music by masters of all epochs, established masterpieces and new vocalinstrumental compositions. Lithuanian music both classical and modern forms an important part of the Jauna Muzika repertoire as well. This is the first CD devoted entirely to Vladas Jakubėnas choral music, and Jauna Muzika recently appeared on the Toccata Classics recording of Bronius Kutavičius oratorio The Seasons (tocc 0200). Vilnius City Municipal Choir Jauna Muzika has cooperated with the Tel Aviv Symphony Orchestra, the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, the Israel Camerata Chamber Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra Moscow Virtuosi and the St Petersburg Camerata. It has presented programmes directed by such well-known conductors as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Avner Biron, Nicholas McGegan, Noam Sheriff, Vladimir Spivakov and Pinchas Steinberg and has performed in almost all European countries, as well as in Japan, Israel, and China. Vaclovas Augustinas (b. 1959) graduated from the Department of Choir Conducting (1981) and the Department of Composition (1992) of the Lithuanian Academy of Music. From 1980 to 1992, he worked at the Ąžuoliukas Music School, and since 1992 has been conductor of Jauna Muzika. As a guest conductor, Augustinas has participated in the Swedish National Convention of Choral Conductors, led a workshop on choir conducting at the 16th Jornadas Coralistas Aragonesas international festival in Spain, has been chief conductor of the World Lithuanian Song Festival, has lectured and given seminars at the 8

9 World Symposium on Choral Music in Rotterdam, Holland, and has conducted the Netherlands Radio Choir. Augustinas has collaborated regularly with Europe s leading authorities on choral art, organising workshops in Vilnius with Jauna Muzika. He also teaches at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. Augustinas choral music (such works as Stomping Bride, Hymne à Saint Martin, Gloria, Cantate Domino canticum novum, Lux aeterna) is popular both at home and abroad. Some of his compositions have received prizes at national and international competitions and have been published by Alliance Music Publications and Laurendale Associates (USA). He is a member of the Lithuanian Composers Union and Lithuanian Choral Union and a professor in the Department of Composition of the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. In 2010, as composer, he received the Lithuanian National Culture and Art Prize. Sopranos Ona Afuvape Šilenė Drūlienė Jurgita Juozūnienė Jurgita Narušytė Giedrė Paukštytė Ingrita Račkauskienė Nerutė Šiliūtė Lina Valionienė Altos Salomėja Jonynaitė Irma Kubertavičienė Gražina Makelienė Diana Mikienė Nora Petročenko Milda Poškaitė Tenors Ignas Garla Andrius Gilys Andrius Kalinovas Romas Makarevičius Valdas Šinkūnas Basses Paulius Jurgutis Artūras Miknaitis Vadimas Navickas Vytautas Pastarnokas Gintautas Skliutas Donatas Zakaras 9

10 1Vai eičiau aš, eičiau Vinco Mykolaičio-Putino eilės Texts and Translations 1 O I would Go Poem by Vincas Mykolaitis-Putinas Vai eičiau aš, eičiau į tolimą kraštą Su vėjais dalios po pasaulį ieškotų, Gal ten, kur numetusi priespaudos skraistę, Širdis nevaitotų. Gal tuomet sunykus dvasia atsigautų, Gal kas sužavėtų, gal kas pamylėtų, Ir audroms nurimus, iš saulėto skliauto Daina suskambėtų. O čia tiktai skųstis dvasia sumenkėjus Ir didelių žygių sapnuoti tegali. Ir žudančio sielvarto dienai atėjus, Vien melst Visagalį. Vai eičiau aš, eičiau į naktį žvaigždėtą, Į kryžkelius laukiamos laimės ieškotų: Gal ten, kur pasitiktų dalia pažadėta Sapnų išsvajotų. 2Tremtinių ir išvežtųjų giesmė Bernardo Brazdžionio eilės Mylėsi Lietuvą iš tolo, Visa širdim, visais jausmais. Iš tolo meilė neprapuola Po balto marmuro namais. Iš tolo ją kaip laimę šauksi, Aušroj ir sutemų sapnuos, O I would go, go to a distant land, Travel the world carried by the winds and search for my destiny, And, with the cloak of oppression thrown off, Perhaps there my heart will no longer grieve. Perhaps then my damaged soul will recover, Perhaps someone will be beguiled by it, perhaps someone will love it, And after the storms have finished raging From the sunny dome a song will resound. Whereas here the diminished soul Can only complain and dream of great deeds, And when the day of heart-breaking sorrow arrives Only pray to Almighty God. O I would go, go into the starry night, To the crossroads to search for happiness: Perhaps to be met there by the destiny promised me And dreamed of in my dreams. 2 The Song of the Exiles and the Deportees Poem by Bernardas Brazdžionis You will love Lithuania from afar With your whole heart, with all your emotions. Even from afar love does not vanish Under the white marble houses. You will call for her from afar as you would for good fortune At dawn and in twilight dreams, 10

11 O ji, praskrisdama kaip paukštė, Tik skaudų ilgesį dainuos. Regėsi ją kaip saulę skaisčią, Kaip kūdikio šventi sapnai. O ji gal vergės pančiuos vaikščios Ir slėgs ją sielvarto kalnai. Ir bus ji tau saldi paguoda, Ir bus ji tau širdy gyva. Balta baltųjų vyšnių soduos Senolių žemė, Lietuva. 3 Motinos kalba 1 Juozo Mikuckio eilės And she will sing a song of longing, Flying past like a bird. You will see her as a bright sun, As a baby s sainted dreams, But perhaps she walks in chains, Weighed down by a mountain of sorrows. And she will become your consolation, And she will be alive in your heart. White in the white cherry orchards Is the land of your forefathers, Lithuania! 3 Our Mother s Tongue Poem by Juozas Mikuckis Mažam po girgždančiaja linge, Kaip vyturio dainelė anstyva, Skambėjo žodžiai stebuklingi Tai Motinos kalba. Svetur pasaulin šaukė sodai, Viliojo nežinia raiba. Per ašaras tarei palaimos žodį Tu Motinos kalba. Aptemusioj vilčių pastogėj Šviesa esi ir pažiba. Mūs kaimo lino togoj Tu Motinos kalba. Išgirdęs kuo švelniausią žodį toly, Šaukiu aš Pagarba Jums, Pagarba! Kas neužmiršote, o sese, broli Tai Motinos kalba. When you were little, lying in your cot, Like the early song of the lark Magical words would resound That was your Mother s tongue. The lure of the unknown Called you to foreign lands. Through tears you said the blessing You are our Mother s tongue. In the darkened shelter of our hopes You are our light and pride. Dressed in the linen toga of our village You are our Mother s tongue! Hearing the gentlest word from far away I shout all Honour to you, all Honour! Those that have not forgot, oh sister, oh brother! That is our Mother s tongue. 1 The poet deliberately uses the phrase Motinos kalba ( Mother s tongue ) rather than gimtoji kalba, the more common Lithuanian equivalent of mother tongue. 11

12 Nutils gyvenimo verpetai, Mirtis atslinks nelaba, Paguos man gęstančiąją širdį Kaip vyturio dainelė ankstyva. Skambės ten žodžiai stebuklingi Motinos kalba. 4Vakaro maldoj Kazio Bradūno eilės Kai vakaro maldoj prašau kasdienės duonos, Užlieja sielą man javų laukai. Rodos einu alsuojančiais dirvonais, Po kojom sklaidosi pavasario rūkai. Atleiski, Viešpatie, Kad šitą pilką taką ir žemė taip svaiginančiai myliu. Ir kad širdis Tau šitiek tepasakius, Pavirto tėviškės arimų grumsteliu. 5 Daug turėta mylimųjų Kotrynos Grigaitytės eilės Daug turėta mylimųjų Ir žiedų ant pirštų, Tik to vieno, paskutinio Negaliu pamiršti. Tie saulėlydžiai nusvirę Palangoj ir Nidoj, Išklajotos kopos, girios Man širdin įsmigo. Kas man vasarą paršauktų Kai laukai lšbalę. After the maelstrom of life calm will come And death draw near To comfort my fading heart Like the early song of the lark. There magical words will resound - Those of our Mother s tongue. 4 At Evening Prayer Poem by Kazys Bradūnas When at evening prayer I ask for our daily bread, My soul is flooded with fields of grain. The very earth I walk seems to breathe, And the mists of Spring beneath my feet lift. Forgive me, My Lord, For loving this gray path and this land so much, And for my heart, when Thou hast said but a few words, Turning into a clump of my native soil. 5 Many Lovers Have I Had Poem by Kotryna Grigaitytė Many lovers have I had And on my fingers many rings, Only one, the last I cannot forget. Those sunsets In Palanga and Nida, The dunes and woods we walked Are embedded deep in my heart. Who will call that summer back When the fields are white, 12

13 Rugiagėlėms užliūliuotų Lūkestingą dalią. O, kaip gera, šiandien gera Mylima jai būti. Tik po langu gluosnis šnara. Laimė ši trumputė. 6 Nurimk, sesut Petro Vaičiūno žodžiai Nurimk, sesut, gana raudoti, Nušluostyk ašaras gailias... Praeis skausmai, laikai kraujuoti Gyvensim mes dienas dailias. Linksmi mes grįšim į tevynę. Ji mus ten po sparnu priglaus. Ir duos mums laimę begalinę, It aušrą rytmečio dangaus. Kada daržely tu ilsėsies Nuvargus po sunkios dienos, Ir širdimi kažko ilgėsies Gražiai lakštutės tau dainuos. Ateis bernelis numylėtas, Priglaus tave jis prie širdies. Dangus žvaigždutėmis nusėtas Nušvies jam kelią ateities. Who will sing to the cornflowers A lullaby of hope? Oh, how good, how good it is today To be loved. Just the sound of the breeze in the willow under the window. This happiness is oh so short. 6 Hush, Little Sister Poem by Petras Vaičiūnas Hush, little sister! Lament no more! Wipe away your tears of sorrow The pain and these blood-filled times will pass We will live days of grace. Joyfully we will return to our motherland. She will take us under her wing And give us happiness without end Like a morning sky at dawn. When you rest in your garden, Weary after a hard day, Your heart will yearn for something And a nightingale will sing you a beautiful song. Your beloved young man will come And hold you to his heart, And the star-filled sky Will light up his life s path. 13

14 7 Jėzau, Tu mano gyvybe Liturginis tekstas Jėzau, Tu mano gyvybe, Kurs man sielą gaivini. Jėzau, Tu mano linksmybe, Kurs man širdį ramini. Viešpačiu Tave vadinsiu, Prieš pasaulį išpažinsiu, Kad tik Tau aš priklausau, Kito būti nemanau. Jei paslystu, Tu maloniai Gelbėji man atsikelt. Stiprini mane kelionėj, Padeda naštas pakelt. Guodi ašaroms beriedant, Sergėji mane bemiegant. Tau vienam tepriklausau, Kito būti nemanau. Taip mane vis amžiuj mano Tu vedei šviesos keliu. Tavo meilė tebegano, Davus visa ką turiu. Ji mane vis apveizdėjo, Globė, rengė ir penėjo. Tau vienam tepriklausau, Kito būti nemanau. 7 Jesus, Thou art my Life Lithuanian hymn; text, originally in German, by Christian Scriver Jesus, Thou art my life, Thou animatest my soul. Jesus, Thou art my joy, Thou calmest my heart. I shall call Thee my Lord, Confess to the world That only to Thee I belong And have no wish to belong to another. Thou kindly helpest me To stand up if I fall. Thou strengthenest me in my journey, Thou helpest me to bear my load. Thou comfortest me when tears flow, Thou keepest me safe when I sleep. Only to Thee I belong And have no wish to belong to another. All my life Thou hast led me Along the path of light. Thy love still protects me And has given me all that I have. It has ever watched over me, Fostered, clothed and nurtured me. Only to Thee I belong And have no wish to belong to another. 14

15 8 O, kad aš Jį regėčiau Vydūno eilės O, kad aš Jį regėčiau Jo šviesoje pilnai. Aš visas pagerėčiau Jo nušviestas visai. Toli tad pasiliktų, kas trauk mane žemyn. Vien Dievas man patiktų! Jis kels mane aukštyn! Šviesybė Dieviškoji, Tavyj nakties nėra. Tu meilė amžinoji, Tu visame visa. Tu Viešpats mūsų Dievas, kuris kaip angelus, Taip, Malonusis Tėvas, savyj laikys ir mus. Tad švies Tava šviesybė, bus dvasios mums diena. Ir Dievas bus gyvybė, bus mums širdies plasta. Nuslinks tad kas niekinga ir kas marina mus. Pats Dievas, kas gaivina, mums tad suteikęs bus. 9 Štai aš čia, Garbės Karaliau Liturginis tekstas Štai aš čia, Garbės Karaliau, Žeminuos Tau nuolankiai. Pasiduodu Tavo valiai, Išklausyk mane mielai. Jėzau, duok save suprasti, Nors aš dulkė, pelenai. Į mane pažvelk, maldauju, Vesk mane tikru taku. Vieno tik Tavęs geidauju, Kurs mane pirkai krauju. Jėzau, duok Tave man rasti, Nes aš be Tavęs skurstu. 8 Oh, If Only I Could See Him Lithuanian Evangelical Lutheran hymn; poem by Vydūnas Oh, if only I could see Him in His full light. A better person I would be with His light on me. Grant that what pulls me down be left behind. Only the Lord God will I love! He will raise me up! Father of Heavenly Lights, there is no night in Thee. Thou art eternal love, Thou art everywhere. Thou art our God, who will keep us like you do the angels, Yes, kind Father, within Thee. Thy light will shine, for us it will be the Day of the Soul. And God will be the life, the beating of our hearts. What is ignoble and shameful will recede. God Himself will grant that which lifts us up. 9 Here I Am, O King of Glory Rev. Ansas Trakis Here I am, O King of Glory, I humbly beseech Thee. Thy will be done, Kindly hear me out. Jesus, let me understand, Though I am but dust and ashes. I beg Thee, look at me, Lead me along the true path. The only thing I wish of Thee, Who atoned for my sins with His blood. Jesus, let me find Thee, Since my life is poor without Thee. 15

16 Viešpatie, netrokštu nieko, Kaip Tavo pagailos. Kad Tave iš viso nieko Tik mylėčiau visados. Jei Tave aš gausiu rasti Rasiu laimės tobulos. Dangiškos paguodos Saule, Štai silpnu balsu giesmės, Mano siela iš pasaulio Graudžiai šaukiasi Tavęs. Viešpatie, Tave aš rasti Trokštu iš visos širdies. Šių laikų turtybių džiaugsmas, Tušti kūno geiduliai. Mano sielai vien tik skausmas, Ieškau čia to, kas aukštai. Didis Dieve, duok man rasti Tavo meilę amžinai. Lord, I wish for nothing Other than your mercy And only that I would it would be Thee I love for evermore. If it is granted me to find Thee Perfect happiness I shall find. Oh, Sun of heavenly solace, In a hymn sung in a weak voice My soul on earth Does call for Thee. Lord, I wish to find Thee With all my heart. The joy of possessions in these times Is but the body s vain desire. My soul knows only pain As I search here for something higher. Great God, grant that I find Thy love for all eternity. A Tyloj Tu švenčiamasis Liturginis tekstas Tyloj Tu švenčiamasis, Dieve, Siono Viešpatie. Aukštybių giriamasis, Kur Tavo žinoma šlovė. Tu svieto viens valdovas, Biednųjų pribėga. Tiems malonus Tu ponas, Kuriuos slogin bėda. Todėl aš apsakysiu Kožnam toli, arti, 16 A In Silence Thou Art Celebrated Lithuanian Evangelical Lutheran hymn In silence Thou art celebrated, God, the Lord of Zion, Praised on high, Where Thy glory is known. Thou art the only ruler of the world, A shelter for the poor. Thou art a kind master To those weighed down by trouble. I will recount To everyone close or far,

17 Koksai Didis esi, Koksai Didis esi. B Už jūrių marelių, už Nemuno Lietuvių liaudies žodžiai Už jūrių marelių, už Nemuno, Man augo mergytė pry motinos. Pakirsiu klevelį ir ąžuolą, Padirbsiu tiltelį per Nemuną. Sulaužiau tiltelį per Nemuną, Pravirkdžiau mergelę pirmu žodeliu. C Vai leidžia duoda Lietuvių liaudies žodžiai Vai leidžia duoda tėvulis dukrelę Svetimojon šalelėn Su didžiu pulkeliu, Sus didžiu šarveliu, Su skambiom muzikėlėm. Dar nesuėjo nė pusės metelių, Jau pareina dukrelė. Pareina dukrelė, Keleliu eidama, Keleliu verkdama. Ar priimsi, tėvužėli? Ar priimsi, širdele? Priimti priimsiu, Gailėti gailėsiu, Nepriimsiu vaikelio! How great Thou art, How great Thou art. B Over the Seas, Beyond the Nemunas River Lithuanian folksong Over the seas, beyond the Nemunas river, A mother raised her dear girl for me. I ll cut down a maple and an oak, I ll build a bridge across the Nemunas. I broke the bridge across the Nemunas, I made the maiden cry with my first word. C Oh, Father is Giving His Dear Daughter Away Lithuanian folksong Oh, father is giving his dear daughter away, Letting her go off to a foreign land With a large retinue All clad in armour, With loud music playing Not even half a year had passed When the daughter returned. The daughter returned, Along the road she walked, Weeping as she walked. Will you take me back, my dear father? Will you take me back, my dear heart? I will take you back, I will take pity on you, But I will not take your child! 17

18 D Po daržužį vaikščiojau Lietuvių liaudies žodžiai Pro daržužį vaikščiojau, Žolynužius mindžiojau. Dabar sudievu žalios rūtelės, Daugiau jus neb lankys. Kopiau į vežimėlį, Sėdau į sėdynėlę. Dabar sudievu, mielas tėveli, Broleliai ir sesėlės. Kai laukeliu važiavom, Kur aš jauna užaugau. Šalia ratelių jojo broleliai Mane ramindami. O kai mes apsistojom Prie uošvelės dvarelio. Žiūriu, ant vartų jau išrašyta Mano sunki dalelė. E Ei auga, auga Lietuvių liaudies žodžiai Ei auga, auga kieme mergytė. Aš ją tankiai lankyčiau Ir širdužėj laikyčiau. Ei auga, auga liepa sodnely. Aš liepelę nukirsčiau Ir gražiai nutašyčiau. D I Used to Walk in My Garden Lithuanian folksong I used to walk in my garden, I used to tread the grass. And now farewell, my green rue, 2 I shall visit you no more. I climbed into the carriage, I sat down on the seat. Farewell, my dear father, My brothers and sisters. When we were driving past the fields Away from the place where I grew up, My brothers rode their horses next to me And strove to calm my fears. And when we stopped At my mother s-in-law house I saw that my hard lot in life Was written on the gate. E Oh, a Girl is Growing, Growing Lithuanian folksong Oh, a girl is growing, growing in our village, Often I would visit her And carry her in my heart. A linden is growing, growing in the orchard. The linden I will cut down And nicely work the wood. 2 In earlier times girls would cultivate a patch of garden on which they grew rue (ruta graveolens; rūta in Lithuanian), the symbol of virginity in Lithuanian folklore, up to the time when they were given away in marriage. During the wedding the bride s crown of rue would be burned, symbolising her passage from childhood to adulthood. 18

19 Aš padaryčiau gražią lovelę. Mergytę paguldyčiau, Užmigdyčiau lovelėj. F Augino močiutė Lietuvių liaudies žodžiai Augino močiutė, Augino dukrelę, Dukrelę vienturtėlę. Ją gražiai augino, Ją puikiai dabino, Išmintingai mokino. Išleido močiutė, Išleido dukrelę Į svetimą šalelę. Su didžiu turteliu, Su mažu vargeliu, Su dviem jaunais broleliais. Sugrįžo dukrelė, Sugrįžo jaunoji Su mažu turteliu, Su didžiu vargeliu, Su dviem mažais vaikeliais. G Aukšti kalnai, lygios lankos Lietuvių liaudies žodžiai Aukšti kalnai, lygios lankos, Aug ir vaisiaus medžiai. Raš man vil vil dai dai dai, Aug ir vaisiaus medžiai. A fine bed I will make, And on that bed lay down my girl And get her to sleep. F Mother Raised Her Daughter Lithuanian folksong Mother raised her daughter, Raised a daughter dear, Her one and only daughter, Raised her well, Dressed her nicely, Taught her wisely. Mother saw her daughter off, Saw off her daughter dear To a foreign land. With much wealth, Unburdened with care, With her two young brothers. The daughter came back, The young wife came back, With little wealth, Burdened with care, With her two little children. G High Hills, Level Meadows Lithuanian folksong High hills, level meadows, Fruit trees grow there as well. Rash man vil vil dai dai dai, 3 Fruit trees grow there as well. 3 These are untranslatable onomatopoeic interjections. 19

20 Po tų šakų, šakužėlių Vaikščioja mergelė. Raš man vil... Vaikščiodama, dainuodama, Vainikėlį pynė. Raš man vil... Ji pindama, dabindama Su vainiku kalba. Raš man vil... Oi tu, vainik, vainikėli, Kur mudu nueisim? Raš man vil... Jei tu, žalias, ant galvelės, Tai aš už bernelio. Raš man vil... Jei tu, žalias, į purvelį, Tai aš į vargelį. Raš man vil... Under the branches, the small branches, A maiden is walking. Rash man vil... While walking and singing, She is making a wreath. Rash man vil... While making and decorating it, She talks to the wreath. Rash man vil... O my wreath, my dear little wreath, Where shall we two go? Rash man vil... If you, my green wreath, stay on my head, My dear young man I ll wed. Rash man vil... If you, my green wreath, fall in the mud, Misery is what I ll suffer. Rash man vil... H Svyruoj, linguoj paukštelis Lietuvių liaudies žodžiai Svyruoj, linguoj paukštelis Ant vynmedžio šakelės. Tai tu svyruosi, jaunas berneli, Kad mano valioj būsi. Atjojo šandariukas, Atvežė urdeliuką. Tai gražiai verkė jaunas bernelis, Kai skaitė urdeliuką. 20 H A Little Bird is Sitting, Perched Lithuanian folksong A little bird is sitting, perched On a vine branch buffeted by the winds. You ll feel the winds as well, young man, Once I have you in my power. A gendarme came riding up With call-up papers. The young man cried so pitifully, While reading his call-up papers. 4 4 The term of service in the Russian army was 25 years in 1793, reduced to twenty years in 1834 and then twelve years plus three years in the reserve in Lithuania was part of the Russian empire from 1795 to 1915.

21 Tai tau, tai tau, berneli, Tai tau, tai tau, jaunasis, Kad nenorėjai nešiot dalgelio, Nešiosi šviesų kardelį. Tai tau, tai tau, berneli, Tai tau, tai tau, jaunasis, Kad nenorėjai klausyt tėvelio, Klausysi hauptmoniuko. I Už jūrų marių Lietuvių liaudies žodžiai Už jūrų marių, už vandenėlių, Ten stovi raudons dvarelis Su stikliniais langeliais. Tame dvarely, Tame margajam, Sėd dvi jaunos seselės, Pin rūtų vainikėlį. O ir atjojo, Ir atlingavo, Bernelis iš pakalnės, Iš Vėluvos miestelio. Aš tave vešiu, Mergele mano, Šešis šimtus mylelių, Už Vėluvos miestelio. There, there, my lad, There, there, young man, You did not want to hold a scythe, But now a shiny sword you ll hold. There, there, my lad, There, there, young man, You did not want to obey your father, But now the captain you ll obey. I Across the Seas Lithuanian folksong Across the seas, Across the water, There stands a little red manor house With little glass windows. In that little manor house In that beautiful little house, Two young sisters are sitting And making a wreath of rue. And a young man came riding, Swaying in the saddle, Down from the mountain side From the small town of Vėluva. 5 I will carry you, My dear young maiden, Six hundred miles Beyond the town of Vėluva. Translated from the Lithuanian by Romas Kinka 5 Vėluva, formerly in Lithuania Minor (that part of East Prussia inhabited by Lithuanians), is now called Znamensk and is in the Kaliningrad Oblast. 21

22 Recorded December 2004, Lithuanian Radio Studio, Vilnius Recording engineer: Algirdas Mateika Editor: Sigita Ilgauskaitė Producer: Salomėja Jonynaitė Translators: Reda Stabinskienė (main text); Romas Kinka (sung texts) Cover design: David M. Baker Design and layout: Paul Brooks This release was produced in collaboration with Music Information Centre Lithuania ( Special thanks to Lietuvos Respublikos kultūros rėmimo fondui ( Culture Support Fund of Republic of Lithuania ) Executive producer: Martin Anderson TOCC , Toccata Classics, London P 2011, Jauna Muzika Toccata Classics CDs are also available in the shops and can be ordered from our distributors around the world, a list of whom can be found at If we have no representation in your country, please contact: Toccata Classics, 16 Dalkeith Court, Vincent Street, London SW1P 4HH, UK Tel: +44/ info@toccataclassics.com 22

23 More JAKUBĖNAS from Toccata Classics TOCC 0013 The playing by everyone here is uniformly excellent [ ]. When you hear music and playing of this calibre and note that Toccata offer discs of music by six more 20th century Lithuanians you realise how much this small country of barely three million people punches above its weight musically. This is a disc to savour. It will repay close listening with a richly rewarding experience. Steve Arloff, MusicWeb International 23

24 Explore Unknown Music with the Toccata Discovery Club Since you re reading this booklet, you re obviously someone who likes to explore music more widely than the mainstream offerings of most other labels allow. Toccata Classics was set up explicitly to release recordings of music from the Renaissance to the present day that the microphones have been ignoring. How often have you heard a piece of music you didn t know and wondered why it hadn t been recorded before? Well, Toccata Classics aims to bring this kind of neglected treasure to the public waiting for the chance to hear it from the major musical centres and from less-well-known cultures in northern and eastern Europe, from all the Americas, and from further afield: basically, if it s good music and it hasn t yet been recorded, Toccata Classics is exploring it. To link label and listener directly we run the Toccata Discovery Club, which brings its members substantial discounts on all Toccata Classics recordings, whether CDs or downloads, and also on the range of pioneering books on music published by its sister company, Toccata Press. A modest annual membership fee brings you, free on joining, two CDs, a Toccata Press book or a number of album downloads (so you are saving from the start) and opens up the entire Toccata Classics catalogue to you, both new recordings and existing releases as CDs or downloads, as you prefer. Frequent special offers bring further discounts. If you are interested in joining, please visit the Toccata Classics website at and click on the Discovery Club tab for more details.